Gangsters claim innocent life

Tools

Typography

Share This

April 1, 2017 (well known as April Fool's Day worldwide) was indeed a sad day for the Moletsane family.

The family lost a young teenager aged 19 named Modisaotsile after a group of notorious young men in the village attacked him with knives, pangas, and axes. Locals agitated by the sordid incident, as well as fellow young men in the area, spent the whole day in the hunt for the culprits. The determined search resulted in identifying where individual criminals stay within the village and the situation was that of a mouse and a cat discovering one another in an open yard.

The three suspected murderers managed to escape unharmed and handed themselves to the police that had attended to the ugly scene. Community elders also intervened to ensure there was no further bloodshed.

April 3, 2017 a decisive meeting was convened involving the community and the police. The Cluster Head General Johan Bean and Mothibistad Station Commander Lieutenant Colonel Sanyaka also attended the meeting. The outcome of the meeting was to establish a vibrant working committee with the police that will monitor any suspicious groups within the village and the surroundings.

There are notorious groups within Mothi-bistad, Magojaneng and Mapoteng villages that need regular surveillance and behave like tortoise - when discovered they hibernate their ugly heads only to let them protrude at a later stage when the community is relaxed for another heinous act.

Meanwhile, the community descended on the Mothibistad magistrate court in numbers to ensure the suspects are not granted bail. The court hearing was postponed to April 12, 2017.

The community has been intermittently raising two parallel intriguing issues in these villages leveled against the police and the justice officials. The police station's response to matters of urgency leaves a lot to be desired and will always defend itself behind the inadequacy of resources - both manpower and vehicles.

The ends of justice favor, in most instances, the suspects who are seen moving on the streets within days committing the same crime. This is dampening the spirit of the police where a good job has been done. At the same time, the justice officials claim that dockets brought to them are too porous - lacking facts and figures or evidence – and are not water-tight enough to incarcerate the suspected culprits.